


Pineapple Pizza and how it Saved Peter's Life

by Ficbunny



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bullying, Hurt/Comfort, Malnutrition, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-13 19:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14755059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ficbunny/pseuds/Ficbunny
Summary: Peter's being bullied. That's definitely a problem that Tony will be confronting someone about, but is there more going on?





	1. Chapter 1

School sucks. 

 

That’s something most teens can agree on, but for Peter school really  _ really  _ sucked.

 

Just imagine, you have the power to be out saving the world, but instead, you’re cooped up inside learning electronegativity. Which don’t get him wrong, he fricken loved periodic trends, but really there are only so many days in a row you can listen to the teacher explain something you’ve known since second grade. 

 

Oh well though, right, that’s something every kid has to sit through, Peter shouldn’t be any different, so he sits through his first four periods before heading to lunch. 

 

Somewhere along the way, Ned appears at his side and they file through the line before making their way to where they eat, by themselves, every day. 

 

Once again no big deal. Honestly, there are some days Peter doesn’t know if he could handle sitting around any more kids. His nightly patrols leave him with about four hours of sleep, and it was hard to not act as drained as he felt lately. 

 

And, now that we’ve all arrived at this pity party, Peter is getting really tired of hiding his hunger. He can eat his whole tray worth and still feel absolutely starving. Sometimes Ned picks up on it and will slide his tray over, one time MJ even must have noticed because an apple rolled its way into the side of his tray. Funnily, after that, it seemed like the cooks served him a double tray without him having to ask, or pay, but even all that was only enough to slightly dull the claws tearing at his insides. 

 

None of this was what really bothered him though. No, what he was really getting sick of came after that final bell. 

 

Ever since Flash figured out he had calculus last period he would wait outside the door. Peter had no clue how he managed to get out of class every day, but that’s really not the point of all this. 

 

The point is school sucks because as soon as he takes that first step out of the classroom an arm wraps around his shoulders and leads/drags him down the hall. 

 

“Sup Penis,” is said, but Peter just chooses to ignore it as Flash continues, “I heard you were selected for the Oscorp scholarship.” He smirked, “Don’t tell me you’re making daddy Stark share the love. I mean personally, I don’t find it fair that you can fuck yourself through the ranks when there are actual candidates who don’t need to blow the principal for A’s but eh, I guess your whole poor and pathetic thing really plays into all the billionaires’ type.”

 

This is the part where Flash pauses in hopes of getting a rise out of him, and Peter has to make a choice. He can either put up with his jabs until Flash gets bored or he could stand up for himself and get it over with now. Except for getting it over with now would also include getting punched and maybe kicked a few times depending on Flash’s mood. Considering Happy was supposed to be taking him to the compound to work in the lab with Mr. Stark, a black eye might be difficult to explain. 

 

With a sigh, Peter dropped his head and let Flash continue, “Tell me, do you ever get tired of being…” 

 

He was cut off as Ned approached with a simple, “Fuck off Flash,” and pulled Peter away from the bully.

 

Apparently Flash was desperate for a fight because as Ned reached for his best friend the bully grabbed his arm and shoved him backward. Completely abandoning his previous victim, Flash advanced forward towards Ned, “You going to make me, Tubbs?”

 

Peter, all for letting himself get picked on wasn’t willing to watch his friend get the same treatment, so he stepped between Ned and Flash and jaw clenched finally responded, “He said Fuck off,” when Flash made no move to leave Peter finished with a nod towards the doors, “So Fuck,” he took a step towards Flash, “the hell,” another step this time putting him in his face, “off.”  

 

With a smirk, Flash met the smaller boy’s gaze, “Well well, look who finally grew a pair. What could you possibly do to me Penis?”

 

With a humorless laugh Peter took a small step back and nodded his head, “Yeah, you’re right. I mean you can’t make shit any shittier can you?”

 

On record, Peter would like to say that he saw the punch coming from miles away, but right now he was Peter Parker, not Spider-man, so he let Flash hit him and, because he’s supposed to be weak, even let the force fling him to the ground. 

 

Flash let out a laugh as he stood over him, “From where I stand it looks like I just did.” Then he stalks off down the hall high fiving a few of his friends on his way out.

 

Once he’s gone Ned offers a hand and pulls Peter up asking, “You good?”

 

Nodding quickly and leading them towards their lockers he answered, “Yeah. You?” 

 

“I’m fine, man. I just really wish you would kick his ass for once.”

 

Peeking over from where he was putting in his locker combination Peter locked eyes with his best friend, “You know why I can’t do that.”

 

Ned rolled his eyes, “I know,” He shut his locker with a slam, “But man can you imagine his face. You wouldn’t even have to hit him just think about it! He punches you with everything he’s got and you just stand there like you couldn’t even feel it. It’d be totally badass!”

 

Closing his locker Peter starts down the now empty hall towards the exit, “Yeah and I can also imagine all the,” He deepens his voice in his best jock impression, “Woah where’d Penis learn to take a hit like that?” He switches back to his regular voice and continued, “and honestly who knows what kind of crap they’d come up with.”

 

There was a short pause in their conversation before Ned laughed, “Dude, is that really how they sound to you?” 

 

Laughing Peter gave him a light shove as they stopped in front of the double doors. Turning towards Ned, he gestured towards his face, “How bad is it?”

 

“It’s definitely going to bruise.”

 

Sighing Peter cast a glance towards the parking lot looking for the black car he knew would be waiting, “Do you think he’ll notice?”

 

“I don’t know how he couldn’t.” Another pause before he continued, “Why does it matter anyway?”

 

“He already thinks Spider-man’s a joke. If he finds out I can’t even handle a high school bully he’ll never trust me to go on a real mission.” 

 

Ned just shrugged, “Eh, I’m sure it’ll be fine dude.”

 

Snorting Peter shoved open the door and squinted into the sunlight, “Yeah? You wanna try that again? Maybe be a little bit more reassuring this time?”

 

Rounding on his friend Ned put his hands on both his shoulders and looking him dead in the eye said, “Everything’s going to be fine,” in his most serious voice. 

 

The pair lasted a whole second before they broke off laughing. “Wow, thanks.” With that Peter headed toward where Happy was waiting, casting a, “See ya later,” over his shoulder. 

 

Ned answered with his own, “see ya,” and took off down the sidewalk. 

 

As Peter slid into the back seat he kept the left side of his face away from Happy hoping he wouldn’t notice and offered a quick, “Hey, Happy,” which was answered with a grunt. 

 

Already realizing that Happy wasn’t really in the mood for him Peter figured that this would be easy today. Putting his plan in motion he started by asking, “Do you know what Mr. Stark wanted to do in the lab today?” 

 

“Don’t know kid.”

 

“Mm. I bet it’s something cool. Ooh, maybe he has upgrades he wants to do on my suits. I hope it’s laser eyes. You know I don’t really know what laser eyes would be good for, but I honestly don’t see any cons to it. Isn’t there a movie where some dude has laser eyes? Well, I mean there’s probably like a million, but I’m thinking of a specific one… Oh oh, have you seen Kung Fury?! There _has_ to be laser eyes somewhere in that… is it technically a movie? I feel like it’s too short to be a movie. Anyway, you know who Kung Fury reminds me of? Daredevil. You know the super secret ninja dude that runs around Hell’s Kitchen. He’s really nice I ran into him once. Plus I mean I’m sure he’s met Thor at least once even if it didn’t involve time traveling. Well and I doubt he’s fought a karate master Hitler, but you know he still totally kicks butt and in that way, he’s like Kung Fury, but really I guess that’s it….”

 

He rambled on a little bit longer before Happy finally gave in and slid the center window shut sealing Peter off. 

 

Sighing in relief he pulled out his cracked phone and opened the camera to examine his eye. Ned was right it was going to bruise but it didn’t really look like it was going to swell much, so that’s a plus. 

 

Shutting his phone off he leaned back into the comfy leather seat and closed his eyes. He hates to admit it, but his lack of sleep is really starting to catch up with him. At first, it was kind of nice. He was just tired enough where he didn’t feel like running a marathon or literally bouncing off the walls. It had helped him focus in class, so he’d thought it would be fine, but lately, it seems like he can barely keep his eyes open let alone listen to an hour-long lecture. Hopefully, the car ride to the compound would be enough where he’d wouldn’t fall asleep in the lab with Mr. Stark. Then he’d never hear the end of it. 

 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by his phone buzzing. 

 

_ Ned _

_ How’s stage one _

 

_ Peter  _

_ Completed in record time _

 

_ Ned  _

_ Are we sure that’s a good thing??  _

 

Peter sent the shrugging emoji in response. 

 

_ Ned  _

_ Good luck on stage two _

 

_ Peter  _

_ Yeah what’s more believable I ran into a door or fell down the stairs _

 

_ Ned _

_ I still don’t understand how letting iron man think you’re a total klutz is better than him knowing that Flash hit you _

_ Peter  _

_ … _

 

_ Peter  _

_ That’s actually a good point but I feel like I’ve already committed _

 

_ Ned _

_ Liar you just don’t want to tell him _

 

_ Ned _

_ Stairs tho _

 

Ending the conversation with a thumbs up emoji Peter settled back into the seat and let himself drift off. 

 

~~~

 

By the time Peter woke up they were about ten minutes from the compound, so he didn’t even bother getting out his homework to finish like he usually would. Instead, he leaned his head against the cool glass window, he’s not sure when it got so hot in here, but he was starting to sweat. 

 

After a couple minutes in silence, Peter sighed and pulled his phone out to check on his eye. It had only got worse, which really wasn’t surprising, but he had hoped that it maybe wouldn’t have been that bad. 

 

A few more minutes of boring silence had the teen leaning forward and knocking on the tinted glass that separated him from Happy which earned him a quick, “Yeah, we’re almost there kid.”

 

With a hmph, he threw himself back into the seat and looked around the car for something to do. Finding nothing he sighed again then clicked his tongue softly then tapped out a beat on his legs. Then clicked his tongue again… and again. It sounded kind of like a really annoying clock and he wondered if it could actually be used to keep track of time.

 

Going to check his theory he pulled out his phone and started the stopwatch and his clicking. Not even ten clicks in Happy sounded from the front, “You know I can still hear you right?”

 

Instantly stopping his clicking, Peter put his phone away and apologized. Then, leaning forward again, he asked, “You ever see Shrek?”

 

Something that sounded weirdly similar to a snort came from the front of the car, “Yeah, kid, I’ve seen Shrek.”

 

“Well, actually I think it’s in Shrek 2, but you know when they’re all traveling to Far Far Away and Donkey keeps making the popping noise?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“That’s what this reminds me of!”

 

Another laugh and the glass is slid out from between them causing Peter to snap his head to look out the window so that Happy couldn’t see his eye. 

 

“Does that make me Shrek or Fiona?”

 

“I mean I guess it’s whoever you want to be, but if I were you I’d pick Fiona. Did you see the one where she loses her memory and is a complete bada… uh, she kicks butt.”

 

“Nice save.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

They settle into a comfortable silence which lasts a total of  _ maybe  _ two minutes before Peter feels the need to break it. “Can you turn on some air, please?”

 

Happy casts a confused/concerned glance at him, but Peter doesn’t meet his gaze still staring intently at the passing scenery. After answering with an, “Um… Sure,” Happy turns the dial and cranks up the A.C.

 

It had been raining for the past three days and had just stopped this morning which had majorly cooled off the city especially considering it was May, but Peter still couldn’t understand Happy’s confusion. The car felt like it was a hundred degrees, if Peter was sweating in a t-shirt he couldn’t imagine what it was like for Happy who was wearing his typical black suit. 

 

It wasn’t long before they pulled to a stop in front of the massive compound and Peter jumped out, shouted, “Thanks, Happy,” and practically ran inside. He barely caught the answering, “Any time, kid,”  _ barely.  _

 

Smiling to himself, Peter bounded up the steps and pushed through the doors into the building and was greeted by the kind voice of Friday, “Hello, Mr. Parker. Mr. Stark is expecting you in his usual lab.”

 

“Thanks, Fri!” And with that, he took off to where he knew he was supposed to be.

 

The compound was massive, but it still didn’t take him long to find the lab. Before he reached the doors he slowed down his gait and tried to figure out his story. 

 

His eye clearly hadn’t started healing, so he had to admit it happened after school, and there were stairs outside the school, but they were like 1½ ft. wide so it’s pretty unbelievable that he’d fall down those. Those are the only stairs that he could think of though and it’s not like Mr. Stark had memorized his school’s architecture or anything, so surely that would work. 

 

Okay so when he asked, he was talking with Ned and wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, missed a step, fell the rest of the way down, and got a black eye. 

 

Talking with Ned, fell, black eye. Simple enough that surely he wouldn’t mess up. 

 

He was about 15 feet from the lab doors when a hand settled on his shoulders and caused him to nearly jump to the ceiling. 

 

“You know kid if hanging out with me is really that bad you could have just canceled.”

 

Peter looked over at Mr. Stark, who luckily chose to walk on Peter’s right side, and defended, “Wha… No, no… I was just, you know, really there’s, uh… There’s no place I’d rather be… Sir.”

 

Tony chuckled at the teens stuttering, “As much as I hope that’s a lie, I’m flattered, just avoid using sir, please. Makes me feel old.”

 

“Sorry, I’m sure you don’t need any more reminders.”

 

“Oh look at that, the kid who could barely stutter out a sentence found some snark.” Peter grinned but didn’t offer any response, so Tony asked as he pushed open the lab door, “So, if ‘there’s no place you’d rather be’ then why are you trudging around the compound like an angsty teen?”

 

“You mean other than the fact that I am an angsty teen?”

 

“Is that why you were walking so slow?”

 

“No.”

 

“Than yes other than the fact that you are an angsty teen.”

 

“Uh, its nothing really.”

 

“Mmhmm,” Tony sat in his usual seat and put his feet up on the table as he watched Peter settle in the seat on his left, “And why is it that you haven’t looked at me since you got here?”

 

Instantly, the kids cheeks heated up, “What! I, I’ve  _ looked _ at you.”

 

“Okay, no big deal then. Look at me.”

 

“Oh, well, I just, I…  Don’t want to? ” He meant it as a statement, but it came out as a question.

 

“Yeah,” Tony put his feet down and leaned towards him, “what happened to your face, Peter?”

 

Sighing and turning to let him see his eye he confessed, “It’s nothing really just fell down the stairs.” All Mr. Stark had to do to get him to continue was raise his eyebrows, “I mean, I was talking with Ned, wasn’t watching where I was going, missed a step, fell down, and got a black eye.” He was cursing himself internally, that sounded  _ so  _ rehearsed and judging by the look on Mr. Stark’s face he heard it too.

 

“Okay? I just have one question,” Peter nodded and he asked, “how did you fall down the stairs and not get any other bruise or scratch except for a pretty bad black eye?”

 

Oops, he hadn’t thought about that, “Well, I guess… Um, you know… like sometimes when you fall you curl into a ball, like fetal position or whatever, I must have done that and kneed myself in the eye.” On the bright side, that answer didn’t sound practiced, it just sounded super super fake. Eh, you win some you lose some. 

 

Surprisingly Mr. Stark nodded and turned to project in front of him to start working, “Okay.”

 

“Okay?”

 

Glancing at him, Tony shrugged, “Yup, if you want to tell me the truth I’m here, but I’m not your dad, you don’t owe me an explanation.”

 

He watched as the teen swallowed thickly and turned to work on his own project, “Right, of course.” Was that disappointment, Tony leaned forward to get a better look at Peter’s face, but quickly decided against it and shook past the guilt worming through him.

 

The two worked in silence for quite a while which is quite a feat if not concerning, considering Happy had told him that the kid was in a really talkative mood before he’d found Peter walking slowly down the hall. The guilt was back telling him that he had somehow hurt the kid’s feelings and that he should break the silence.

 

“You sure you’re fine.”

 

Without looking up Peter answered, “Hmm?” then made a wild gesture to his eye, “Oh! You mean… Yeah, I’m good. It’ll be healed by morning anyway.”

 

“That’s good,” Tony nodded and tried to keep the conversation going, “You do realize I’ve seen you make a tightrope out of your webs and literally do backflips across. I don’t know how you thought I’d buy falling down the stairs.”

 

This got a chuckle out of the teen, “I figured it was worth a shot. Running into a door was the other option if that makes falling down the stairs look any better.”

 

“No, it really doesn’t kid. We desperately need to teach you how to lie. This is a little pathetic.”

 

Looking over at him, Peter challenged, “You know, most adults would say that it’s a good thing that I can’t lie.”

 

“Well, if I ever start acting like ‘most adults’ then feel free to slap me out of it.”

 

Peter flashed a smile and held up three fingers, “Scouts honor.”

 

“You’re a little shit you know.”

 

“So I’ve been told.”

 

Chuckling Tony turned back to his work, “Will you do me a favor and grab that screwdriver over there.” He pointed where one was laying on a table a few feet away. 

 

“Sure, do you think…” Peter trailed off as he stood and the world blurred around him. With his vision fuzzy around the edges, he suddenly felt really hot again and stumbled forward a step before it went away as suddenly as it came.

 

“Do I think what?” Then he looked up and noticed Peter’s slightly hunched over form with a white-knuckle grip on the back of the chair, “Everything okay?” He tried to keep an even tone.

 

Clearing his throat, Peter answered, “Uh nothing, nevermind, I’m fine.”  and grabbed the screwdriver to pass to Mr. Stark. 

 

“Yeah, you seem to be saying that a lot lately.”

 

“Really I’m fine. Just tired I think.” 

 

Peter couldn’t identify the look that crossed over Mr. Stark’s face before he glanced down at his watch, “Actually, I’m getting tired too, and am just about at a good stopping point. How about we wrap this up, order a pizza, and call it a night.”

 

Opening his mouth to protest, Peter was cut off when Tony added, “Happy can pick you up tomorrow so we can finish up.”

 

“You want me to come back tomorrow?”

 

“If that’s okay with you and aunt hottie. We’ve barely even started on the update for your suit's AI.”

 

“Karen.”

 

“Sure.”

 

The smile that broke across the teen’s face was blinding, “You’re serious! You want me to come back two days in a row!”

 

“It's lab work kid and your excitement level is at winning the Nobel prize.”

 

“Sorry, that’s just,” he thought back to something Flash said the other day about how even if Peter did work with Tony Stark it was probably just because he pities Peter. Spending a couple hours a week helping an orphan would only help Tony’s public image and that’s all he really cared about. Peter didn’t matter, but if Tony was wanting him to come back, to keep helping, then surely he was being at least a little bit helpful. Still smiling brightly Peter finished, “awesome!”

 

Mr. Stark smiled back, “I know, I’m amazing, my presence leaves you in awe, yadda yadda.”

 

“Oh,” his earnest smile switched to a smirk, “I meant the pizza.”

 

Bringing a hand to his chest in mock hurt Tony fired back, “Wow, just for that I’m not getting pineapple on the pizza.”

 

“What! No fair.”

 

“Life’s not fair.”

 

“Fine, I take it back your the best. I’m in awe of your presence. You inspire me to…”

 

“Save it, it’s too late, you can’t heal the wounds you caused.”

 

Peter snorted, “Okay that was a little dramatic, even for you. Besides you have to get pineapple on pizza. It provides a necessary sweetness.”

 

“Sorry Chef Boyardee, but pizza doesn’t need sweetness.”

 

“It definitely does. You can’t honestly be saying that you don’t like pineapple on pizza.”

 

“It’s weird.”

 

“But good!”

 

“You know what else is good?”

 

“What?”

 

“Pizza without pineapple.”

 

“Well, you know something else that’s better.”

 

“Hmm, let me guess… Pizza with pineapple.”

 

“Exactly.”

 

Their argument continued into the kitchen over a pizza, half with and half without pineapple, and was called a draw as Peter finished off the last piece, “Let’s just agree that all pizza is bomb.”

 

Tony smiled and picked up the plates to wash them off as Peter was throwing the box away, “Alright, but only because of the opportunity to teach you the benefits of compromise.”

 

Snorting Peter made his way over to dry the plates and put them away, “Nice try, but any chance of an honorable defeat died when you tried to bribe the pizza delivery guy.”

 

“You have no proof of that.”

 

“Really,” Peter challenged, “Fri, run the footage.” 

 

Sure enough, a video of Tony whispering to the guy and then slipping him a twenty appeared on the nearest tv, and Peter smiled triumphantly while Tony muttered, “Traitor,” under his breath. 

 

Hopping up on the counter, Peter caught Mr. Stark staring at his, what should be fading, black eye, “You’re dying to know aren’t you?”

 

Shrugging, Tony pulled over a seat, “I might be a little curious.”

 

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

 

“And satisfaction brought it back.”

 

Snorting and looking down at his hands, Peter shrugged, “It really was nothing. Some guy was picking on Ned and I told him to back off.”

 

“So he hit you.”

 

“I deserved it.”

 

Tony caught Peter’s gaze before replying, “I highly doubt that.”

 

Just as Peter was about to answer, Happy walked in and asked, “Ready to go, kid?”

 

Sliding off of the counter he nodded, “Yep, see you tomorrow, Mr. Stark!”

 

At that Happy raised his eyebrows and looked curiously at Tony.

 

The billionaire caught the look, “Speaking of which, why don’t you head to the car kid while I catch Happy up.”

 

With an “Aight,” and a small wave, the kid disappeared down the hall.

 

“Peter’s coming by again tomorrow.”

 

“Okay, you want me to pick him up at the usual time.”

 

“Yeah, but I want to come with you.”

 

Shocked Happy repeated, “You want to come? Don’t you have the meeting with Ross?”

 

Tony just shrugged, “Let’s be honest, I’d miss that meeting for jury duty if I could. Besides, I want to check something.”

 

Happy laughed. “You know, Pepper’s been calling you a helicopter parent,” at Tony’s glare he added, “but I don’t see it.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Tony caved, “Yeah yeah, whatever, just tell Friday to get me when it’s time to go”

 

Nodding, Happy left down the hall.

 

Meanwhile, Peter pushed open the doors and stepped outside only for another wave of dizziness to hit him. With nothing to grab onto, Peter staggered forward a few steps before his throat started to constrict. Knowing he was going to throw up, he tried to make it into the grass, but the world was fuzzy and he ended up puking on a bush. Not ideal, but better than the sidewalk.

 

Slowly the world came back into focus and his skin cooled down where he didn’t feel like he was standing a foot from the sun. Looking around to make sure nobody was around, he sighed in relief. Mr. Stark and Happy must still be talking. 

 

Wiping his mouth Peter made the rest of the way to the car and slid in debating on whether or not he should just tell someone. 

 

It really wouldn’t be a big deal except that he can’t recall being sick since the spider bit him, so it might be something serious. But, if it wasn’t serious then he didn’t want to look like a baby that couldn’t handle a common cold.

 

He just sighs and lets his head fall back against the seat deciding that if it happens again then he’ll tell someone, but until then, it’d be his own little secret. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so the first chapter of this work is something I wrote a while ago and I never really fell in love with it, but when I found it a couple weeks ago figured I'd add some finishing touches and post it. I hadn't really planned to continue, but all of you guy's amazing feedback urged me to finish. Thank you so so much! Hope you enjoy!

When Peter woke up the next morning he felt like shit. 

 

Except not like shit because shit was supposed to be warm and he was fucking freezing. It was such a vast difference from the too hot feeling that he had been having for a couple days before that he really just laid there for a second and contemplated if he had died. 

 

It definitely felt that way, not only was he freezing, but his head felt like it had been thrown in a blender with a bunch of bricks, his stomach felt like it was being used as a cage for a very unhappy Wolverine, and as he tried to drag himself out of bed the world spun around him leaving black spots dancing across his vision that didn’t go away, even after he regained his balance. 

 

When he finally got his room to quit rocking beneath him, Peter tried to walk to the bathroom to get ready for school, but before he even made it out of his bedroom he tripped on a pair of jeans he had left lying in the middle of his floor and after a few stumbling steps smacked the ground, his brain processing too slow for him to catch himself.

 

Groaning, Peter rolled over onto his back and just laid there staring up at the ceiling. He was  _ so _ tired, and surely it wouldn’t hurt anything if he just went back to sleep for a few minutes. Aunt May was working at the hospital, so nobody would even know the difference. 

 

Nodding his head in agreement with his own logic, Peter let his eyes slide shut and became dead to the world.

 

~~~

 

When he woke up a little while later he really had no clue what was happening. His head was still freezing… no that’s not it. His head was  _ pounding _ and he felt like he had fallen asleep in a freezer rather than on the floor. What was really confusing him was the dull buzzing sound that just wouldn’t go away. 

 

Bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz

 

It took him a concerning amount of time to recognize that the sound was his phone vibrating from a call. 

 

With a huff, he rolled himself over and pulled his still exhausted body up and towards his desk where he left his phone on charge the night before. 

 

Sinking into his chair he answered without looking to see who it was, “Hello?”

 

“Peter!” there was a sigh of relief from his aunt, “Thank God! The school called and said you didn’t come in this morning.”

 

“Hmm? Oh, yeah I, wait WHAT!” Looking down at the time he cursed. It was 10:22 he had been asleep for three and a half hours. “I’m so sorry Aunt May, really I must have just forgot to set my alarm,” or you know passed out in the middle of the floor, “but I’m on my way. Really.”

 

“It’s fine sweetie, I was just worried that with your… hobby, that something had happened.”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s okay, you know how I worry. And I know that you haven’t been feeling 100%,” or even 10%, “Lately, so if you want to spend the rest of the evening home, I could come over there for my lunch break.”

 

Peter contemplated whether or not to take her up on that offer. He really did feel like crap, but he had an English paper he  _ had  _ to turn in today. It was supposed to be a three page essay on how his heritage influenced his life, but the first time he had written it he had spent the night trying to stop a museum heist and wrote the whole thing in about an hour before school started. His grade had reflected this and Peter had spent more time on his revisement, but it was due today, and he doubted that Ms. Langster would accept it tomorrow, no matter the circumstances. 

 

Making his decision Peter answered, “No, I feel fine, just overslept. I have to get ready then I’ll be going, I swear.” Besides, he was getting to work in the lab with Mr. Stark today, there’s no way he would miss that, even if he does feel like he just stepped out of the Octagon with Conor McGregor.  

 

“Alright sweetie, I’m working a double shift again tonight, but I left a twenty on the counter in case you need anything.”

 

“Thanks, May.”

 

“You’re welcome. I love you.”

 

“Love you too, bye,” With that, he hit end call and went to get dressed. As he stood up the world blurred once again, but he had begun to get used to the disoriented feeling and pushed through enough that he managed to stumble his way to his closet. 

 

Pulling on a pair of jeans and a hoodie, Peter made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth but stopped dead in his tracks as he saw his reflection. 

 

Hand coming to his face he stepped closer to the mirror. For one he was pale enough he could be mistaken as a ghost, but what really had him stunned was that he still had a black eye. It hadn’t healed at all. 

 

Swallowing harshly he grabbed his toothbrush and finished getting ready, but he couldn’t move past this. Whatever it was it couldn’t be good if it had stopped or at least slowed down his healing factor enough where it couldn’t even heal a bruise. There were some nights after patrols where he would go to sleep with a broken bone and wake up eight hours later and be perfectly fine.

 

Maybe he should tell Mr. Stark about this. Whatever  _ this  _ is.

 

~~~

 

Turns out he didn’t get the chance. 

 

Peter made it through the rest of the school day as normal. Well almost as normal, the thought of food made him sick so he slept through his lunch period tuning out Ned and Mj’s concerned whispers, but other than that and the usual focus problem he had in the more boring classes, the day went fine. He had yet to see Flash, his revisement was turned in, and he looked just sickly enough that he got to skip p.e., but he managed to convince the teacher not to send him to the nurse. 

 

Overall, not too shabby for being sick, but it pretty much all went down the drain after last period.

 

He had been feeling worse and worse as the day went by, but by the time the final bell rang his world was pretty much just a blur of colors. Feeling detached, Peter shakily stood up from his desk and tried his best to walk out of the classroom like everything was fine. Of course, as soon as he stepped out the door, Flash’s arm slung over his shoulders. 

 

With his hearing distorted as well, he could barely even hear what Flash was saying, but he figured it had something to do with how pathetic he was, he didn’t deserve anything he had, and so on. All the usual stuff. 

 

As much as he would hate to admit it, he was partially grateful for Flash’s presence by his side. With Flash’s arm across his shoulders, he didn’t have to focus on where he was going and just dragged his feet in whatever direction he was steered. 

 

Suddenly, Flash’s arm disappeared and after a few minutes of him not knowing what was happening his vision was filled with a very concerned, if not blurry, Ned. 

 

An arm wrapped itself back around his shoulder and this time he let himself slump into it. A distant mumbling told Peter that Ned was probably talking to him, but since his mumbling was just blending in with the rest of the school’s, he couldn’t really understand what he was saying and instead just offered a hum and hoped that it sufficed as an answer. 

 

Peter let his eyes slip shut as he blindly followed wherever Ned was leading him, and as they came to a stop, he let Ned assist him in sliding down a wall to the floor. 

 

There was snapping in front of Peter’s face that caused him to open his eyes and see that they were sitting in the school bathroom. 

 

Without the hundreds of other sounds, Peter was able to piece together what Ned was saying when he asked, “Peter listen, this is important. Earlier, did you say that Happy was supposed to pick you up today?”

 

“Mhmm.”

 

“Okay, good just uh,” there was a short pause, “Just wait here for a minute.”

 

There wasn’t really anything else Peter could do with his head pounding like it was, so he once again closed his eyes and let himself drift off. 

 

~~~

 

Ned was practically running down the hall, pushing past the groups of teenagers hanging in crowds around their lockers. 

 

As he rushed outside he paused briefly to locate the black car that Happy usually picked Peter up in and jogged over to it.

 

Knocking on the passenger window he smiled shyly and tried to cover up the mass concern that he knew was probably written all over his face. He was surprised when it was the backseat window that rolled down and he was greeted with Tony Stark himself. 

 

“Ted! Great to see you and all, but where’s Peter?”

 

“Um Ned, and about that, I think Peter’s sick or something,” This caught Tony’s attention and he raised an eyebrow, urging for  _ Ned _ to continue, “I don’t know, he was acting kind of weird all day, but I just thought maybe he was tired or something,” Ned shrugged, “but then I found him after last period and he looked barely conscious.”

 

By now Tony had got out of the car and Ned was leading him to the bathroom where he had left his best friend. 

 

With his heart nearly beating out of his chest, Tony followed Ned and as he pushed open the door was met with a very pale, very sickly looking, Peter Parker.

 

Sliding down to Peter’s level he put a hand to his forehead figuring he had a fever, but checking anyway. Surprisingly, the teen was ice cold. The next thing that caught the mechanic’s eye was that the dark bruise around his eye hadn’t healed a bit, he filed that little tidbit of info away for later, and moved on to waking Peter up.

 

It didn’t take much, just a few shakes and his eyes flew open, but they seemed unfocused and glazed over. None of this was easing Tony’s worry, and all he really wanted to do was get him back to the compound, “Hey, kid. You good to stand?”

 

Without answering, Peter braced one hand against the wall and pushed himself into a slouched, but standing position, then mumbled, “Hurts.”

 

“I know, we just have to make it to the car then it’ll be okay. Okay?” Tony put his hand on Peter’s back and looked towards Ned, “Walk on the other side. Don’t make it any more obvious that something’s wrong.” 

 

The kid nodded and hurried over to his friend and tossed what hopefully would look like a casual arm across Peter’s shoulders. 

 

Together they did their best to lead him through the emptying hallways and out to the car, but when they got to the courtyard out front they were stopped by a kid running up behind them shouting, “Penis, Tubbs, why’d you take off so quick. Don’t tell me I hurt your feelings…”

 

Any further insults died on his lips as Tony turned around. He motioned for Ned to get Peter the rest of the way to the car as he advanced toward the teen. “And here I thought that their names were Peter and Ned. Must be my mistake because as far as I know only toddlers and morons resort to childish nicknames as insults.”

 

Eyes darting to the ground, Flash stuttered, “Oh, That’s not, I, uh, I, I meant Peter and Ned, it just came out wrong. Long day you know.”

 

Tony narrowed his eyes, “Yeah, and I’m sure it’ll never happen again.”

 

“Never sir.”

 

“Good,” nodding and turning back towards the car, Tony just couldn’t make himself leave it at that. So, he turned back around and leaned down close to the teen’s ear so that only he would hear, “If you  _ ever  _ lay a hand on my kid again, I will personally make sure you regret it.” 

 

Satisfied he walked away not waiting to see the kid’s reaction. 

 

As he reached the car he was greeted by a nervous Ned, “Mr. Stark I got him all buckled in.”

 

After giving the kid a pat on the shoulder he slid into the car, “Nice work, Fred”

 

“Ned.”

 

Going for the door he nodded, “Sure,” but the kid didn’t release the death grip he had on the edge of the car.

 

“You’ll let me know?   
  


“I’ll have Happy here call you when something changes.”

 

Satisfied Ned closed the door and watched the car peel away.

 

~~~

 

The compound had never felt farther away than it did during that car ride. The kid was mostly silent as he had sat curled into himself, shivering even though the heat was on full blast. When Tony asked him what was wrong the kid had said that his stomach ‘had knives in it’ and his head felt like it was about to explode.

 

Tony really was hoping that it was just some kind of cold, but either way, he was leading Peter down to Bruce’s lab, so that hopefully the scientist could figure out what was wrong with him. 

 

Peter trudged behind his mentor not paying attention to the anxious looks that were shot his way every two minutes. 

 

When they finally arrived at the lab, Mr. Stark guided Peter towards a metal table that he gladly hopped up on. His legs had felt like they were about to collapse beneath him.

 

Figuring Mr. Stark had paged some superhero doctor for him, Peter was more than surprised when Dr. Banner came into the room. If he wasn’t feeling quite so terrible, Peter was sure that he would be saying a million embarrassing things at the moment, but instead, his fanboying was kept internal as the scientist looked stunned glancing from him to Mr. Stark. 

 

“Um, Tony can I talk to you… outside please.”

 

The pair offered him small apologetic smiles as they stepped out of the room and pulled the door shut. Of course, Peter could still hear them just as well out there as he would have in here, even though it kind of sounded like they were talking in a microphone that they were holding way to close to their mouths. 

 

“I thought you said you had something for me to look at?”

 

“Yeah, did you happen to miss the kid in there, because he was definitely in there.”

 

“No, I didn’t mi…” Dr. Banner cut off and took a deep breath, “I wasn’t expecting a living being, especially a kid who kind of looks like he belongs in a hospital bed.” 

 

Peter chewed on his lip, he really didn’t think that he had looked that bad.

 

“Please, I can’t really tell you much, but he’s, how do I put it… genetically modified, and he’s sick, which I really didn’t think was possible, and I didn’t know who else I could take him to.”

 

“You do know I’m not that kind of doctor.”

 

“Seven PhDs and none of them will help the kid?”

 

Dr. Banner paused to consider for a moment and then relented, “Fine, but I’ll need to know his abilities.”

 

“Well, for starters he has probably been listening to this entire conversation.” 

 

Peter’s face flushed with embarrassment at being caught.

 

“Enhanced hearing?” the doctor questioned as the two came back into the room.

 

“Enhanced everything, hearing, sight, smell, metabolism, strength, speed, reflexes, the list goes on.”

 

Dr. Banner directed his question to Peter this time, “How’d you get your abilities?”

 

Glancing to Mr. Stark, he was silently asking if it was okay, and with the older man’s nod he answered, “I got bit by a radioactive spider.”

 

Mr. Stark snorted and it dawned on Peter that he hadn’t ever told him how he got his powers. A small smile of his own slipped onto his face and Dr. Banner moved to get something out of a cabinet to the side. “What symptoms have you been experiencing?”

 

Before Peter could answer the scientist pulled out a pad of paper and pencil and sat in the chair directly in front of him to copy down what he said. 

 

“Um, well, for starters my head feels like a balloon that has way too much helium in it. My stomach seems like it’s trying to eat itself. Every time I stand or really try to do anything but just sit still, I start to black out and my hearing goes with it. Also, I’m freaking freezing, but that just started a couple days ago, before that it was completely opposite, I felt like I was gonna melt half of the time.”

 

“Also, he usually heals pretty quick but, well, just look at his face,” Mr. Stark chimed in.

 

Dr. Banner nodded, “You said you just started being abnormally cold a few day ago. When did the first symptoms start.”

 

Peter’s eyes darted to Mr. Stark. He wasn’t going to like this, “About a month ago.” Watching as his jaw clenched, Peter turned back to Dr. Banner. 

 

“Mhmm,” Bruce reached up to adjust his glasses, “and was there anything that changed around that time? Any new medications or additional stress?”

 

Shrugging Peter suppressed a shiver, “None that I can think of.”

 

“Hmm,” He looked down at his notes and was tapping his pen when Tony offered,

 

“His aunt got a promotion a little over a month ago. Has been working nearly double the hours she was before.”

 

This had Dr. Banner’s head shooting up and looking to Peter for confirmation.

 

“Uh, yeah, but I mean that hasn’t really changed much.”

 

Standing up Bruce asked, “What about your eating habits?”

 

Peter’s face flushed red again, “Oh.”

 

Feeling left out Tony asked, “Oh what?”

 

“Um, well, I guess since May started working extra I haven’t been eating as much. I never really thought about it, but she usually had dinner ready when I got home from patrol and something made for breakfast when I woke up, but with her gone more I just skip it.”

 

“How often have you been eating?”

 

“I eat the school’s lunch and my usual sandwich during patrol. Well, lately I haven’t been getting the sandwich because I haven’t been feeling all that great, and today I skipped lunch so,” he offered a shrug as he trailed off. 

 

Nodding Bruce explained, “That has to be the problem then. You haven’t been eating nearly enough for a regular teenager, let alone one who is, I assume, extremely active, and has an advanced metabolism. You’re malnourished, which of course starts with hunger and then just leaves your stomach in a constant state of discomfort where it gets to the point that even though you’re quite literally starving, you just aren’t hungry. This probably led to a drop in your glucose levels which can cause a killer headache and just a general lightheadedness, which accounts for you feeling like you are going to pass out every time you do something too active. This feeling of you nearly passing out is often accompanied by hot flashes, but when someone is malnourished their bodies have a harder time regulating temperature which commonly leaves them too cold. I'd guess that your body's healing factor is more focused on trying to balance you out that it didn't concern itself with your black eye, but I'd have to know more to be sure. Basically, we just need to get your body back on track and then help you keep it there. I think if we take you to the Medbay and keep you hooked up to an IV for the night then, as long as you start getting the correct amount of nutrients, you’ll be back to normal in no time.”

 

~~~

 

That had been Thursday, and after calling to let May know that he was going to stay with Mr. Stark he had spent the night as Dr. Banner had suggested, and skipped school the next day. Now it was Monday and he was feeling 100 times better than he had in a  long  time. 

 

On top of not feeling sick or just generally drained, Flash hadn’t been waiting for him like he usually was and left Ned and him to walk out of the school in peace. 

 

Peter had grabbed a sandwich and finished it before patrol and after as he was crawling into his bedroom window he was trying to come up with what he could cook himself. He had promised Mr. Stark that he would start eating dinner and breakfast whether he thought he was hungry or not. 

 

Planning on keeping that promise, Peter made his way into the kitchen, but stopped short at the sight of two pizza boxes sitting on the counter and a certain billionaire lounging on the couch. 

 

“Pineapple?” He questioned.

 

“Of course.”

 

Reaching for a slice Peter smiled, “Ah, what a life saver.”

 

Mr. Stark came up behind him and grabbed a slice, “I try.”

 

The teen smirked, “I meant the pizza.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are much appreciated! ;D

**Author's Note:**

> I may update tomorrow, I may update in a week, or I may never update. Sorry, but your guess is as good as mine. :/ Hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a kudos or comment. :)


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